A variety of designs, construction, and materials have been known and described for snowshoes. Conventionally, snowshoes were constructed of a generally elliptical wooden frame threaded with a cross-hatched web to which the wearer's boot would be secured. Such a snowshoe provides flotation to resist against the walker sinking too deeply in the snow, but is relatively heavy.
Typically, a snowshoe includes a toe hole to accommodate the toe portion of the wearer's foot while walking. A binding is mounted on the snowshoe web to secure the wearer's boot to the snowshoe. The binding wraps around the instep portion of the wearer's boot to secure the snowshoe to the foot. In addition, a hinge is often provided on the binding at the toe hole to allow the toe of the wearer's boot to rotate into the toe hole of the snowshoe to correspond to a normal walking motion.
The conventional wooden frames require substantial upkeep due to the wet conditions in which the snowshoes are used. Thus, they present problems with durability. As a result, more recently developed snowshoes have been composed primarily of a combination of materials including a frame of aluminum tubing with a plastic web. Such materials are lighter weight and have better durability with less upkeep, but the various parts can require complex assembly. Both these materials and the manufacturing requirements lead to a more expensive product.
In addition, some prior art designs use metal, such as aluminum, for the binding mounting and for a hinge at the toe hole. These parts can be very expensive to manufacture and assemble. Moreover, certain bindings and hinge constructions place a repeated stress on the underlying parts of the snowshoe, thus, lessening the durability of the shoe. See e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,450 (McGrath). In addition, the fasteners or buckles provided to secure the bindings in place over the wearer's shoe in some prior designs can be cumbersome and make taking the snowshoe on or off difficult.
It is also important in snowshoe design to provide a gripping action by the shoe into the snow for uphill walking or in traversing the side of a mountain.
Another aspect of snowshoeing that needs to be addressed in the design of the snowshoe is that of sideslipping of the snowshoer's heel. Some prior designs use a tight strap to hold the heel in place but this can reduce the effectiveness of the snowshoe because it reduces the ability of the shoe to rotate and fall fully away from the snowshoer's heel while the snowshoer walks.
Yet a further issue involves the mechanism for securing the snowshoe to the wearer's boot. The fastening device used in prior designs that locks the binding mechanism in place typically includes a strap and buckle or a plastic, two-piece clasp which can become loosened while in use. Further, such types of fastening devices are difficult to open to re-adjust or to open in order to remove the snowshoes, particularly when the user is wearing gloves or mittens and when the device becomes covered with snow and ice. The clasps of prior designs can thus be difficult to work with or, at the very least, inconvenient for the user. These problems are accentuated when the users of the snowshoes are children.
There remains a need, therefore, for an improved snowshoe of comparatively low cost which solves the problems encountered with prior designs in the areas of ease of manufacture, increased durability, lightness of weight and efficiency during walking in a variety of weather conditions and terrain, and ease of putting the shoes on and removing them, particularly with respect to products designed for children who may be wearing mittens and outer wear.
It is thus an object of the invention to provide a snowshoe having superior gripping action and flotation behavior as well as having a simple-to-use binding which can also be comprised of plastic to reduce deterioration and other wear and which can relieve the stresses encountered upon repeated flexing of the snowshoe. In addition, there remains a need for a snowshoe which has a design which will distribute the stresses across a maximum portion of the snowshoe.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a low cost snowshoe which is light-weight, simple to manufacture and has increased durability, good performance in a variety of conditions and terrain, and has a binding and fastening mechanism which is both sturdy, but simple to put on and remove in cold weather conditions.